Hugh Dancy has been acting for over 20 years and has appeared in a wide variety of movies, all of which are ranked here, from the worst to the best.
Hugh Dancy has been working as a screen actor for over 20 years, and ranking his movies from worst to best reveals a filmography varied in genres and styles. Since his breakout role in the 2000 TV movie David Copperfield, Dancy has amassed significant fame for such roles as Will Graham in the NBC television series Hannibal and Prince Charmont in the feature film Ella Enchanted. Beyond these headliners, however, Dancy has accrued dozens of other successful roles.
Born in Stoke-on-Trent, England, in 1975, Dancy was sent to theater class for misconduct at the age of 13 and discovered a passion for acting that would later take him far in the business. In 2009, he married actress Claire Danes after meeting her on the set of the movie Evening in 2006, and he has since also worked with her on the series Homeland. His career has gone on to incorporate a range of major and minor studio roles, exploring genres as diverse as drama, action, and horror.
Related: Hannibal Paved The Way For Killing Eve's Fatal Romance
Dancy currently plays Assistant District Attorney Nathan Price in the revival of the TV series Law & Order. He also plays a huge role as a film director in the second Downton Abbey feature film, Downton Abbey: A New Era, which opens in May 2022. With plenty more promising projects ahead, it's a good time to rank all of his movies, from the worst to the best.
Blood & Chocolate is about a young werewolf, Vivian (Agnes Bruckner), who falls in love with an artist (Dancy) in Bucharest. She attempts to keep her social life afloat as she avoids a prophecy's implication that she is to rejuvenate the local werewolf pack. This romance includes all of the flaws that YA novel adaptations, such as Divergent, tend to suffer from: there is an overflow of characters and an absence of well-developed exposition to communicate the plot's importance. It translates more like a dull extension of the Underworld franchise than it does its own world.
Centered around a relationship between middle-aged thief Sarah (Melanie Griffith) and her sugar baby, Jack (Dancy), Tempo depicts the volatile consequence of mixing a life of crime with love. Dancy effectively portrays Jack's inner conflict of desiring to be with the woman who has taken care of him and a girl more his own age who offers a naively romantic view of true love. Amidst the movie's abysmal framework and inability to successfully empathize with any of its characters, Tempo is left flailing for a purpose. It excels in scenes where actors (namely Melanie Griffith and Hugh Dancy) can languish in their chemistry, but the movie focuses too heavily on its paper-thin plot, which is why it is little more than unmemorable.
Young Blades is a 2001 action-adventure film directed by Mario Andreacchio. Inspired by the works of Alexandre Dumas, Young Blades follows Hugh Dancy as the young and arrogant D'artagnan, who joins forces with Three Musketeers to stop a war brewing between France and Spain. Though difficult to condemn an adventure film for its overabundance of camp, Young Blades has to be categorized as such. Its historical inaccuracies and a glaring disregard for its source material are apparent.
Related: The Three Musketeers 2011 Cast & Character Guide
The Sleeping Dictionary tells the story of an Englishmen who travels to a village in Malaysia to educate the natives about Western civilization. Though Jessica Alba and Hugh Dancy share tangible chemistry, which properly communicates the tragedy of their union, their relationship is not enough to keep the movie afloat. The romanticism of colonialization is also a dated flaw in the narrative that detracts from the beautiful shooting locations.
The sequel to the sultry neo-noir Basic Instinct, Basic Instinct 2 continues the story of serial killer Catherine Tramell. Sharon Stone returns and luxuriates in her performance as Tramell, while Dancy plays the flamboyantly determined reporter Adam Towers, which uplifts a notably dry and unsexy movie compared to its groundbreaking predecessor. The sequel fails to capture the key elements of a noir and despite Sharon Stone's dedication, Basic Instinct's trademark femme fatale element feels withdrawn.
Dancy stars alongside his now-wife Claire Danes in Evening, an isolated story about a wedding, an affair, and a death. Framed as a recollection from a dying woman, the movie carries a wistful yet melancholic vibe through its entire runtime. Dancy shines apart from the rest of the cast. His character's narrative is a far more tragic and interesting story to contrast with the main affair. Ultimately, Evening is still a relatively harmless effort but lacks enough substance to make it anything more than forgettable.
Our Idiot Brother centers around, star of Ant-Man, Paul Rudd's titular character, who is down on his luck and looking to his three haughty sisters to get him out of a tough spot. Downton Abbey 2 star Dancy plays a love interest for one of the sisters. The comedy depends on believably dysfunctional family dynamics and awkward situations to stick its landing, which it doesn't always achieve. Rudd's natural charisma keeps the movie afloat, however, and is generally enjoyable even though it is not laugh-out-loud funny.
Related: Downton Abbey Timeline Explained: Every Season & Movie
Coach is a sports rom-com following the savvy slacker Nick (Dancy), who decides to land a job as the coach for a middle school soccer team. Unfortunately, the characters don't learn the lessons the overarching narrative is trying to impress upon its audience. There are few endearing moments scattered throughout Coach implicating the skeleton of a memorable movie about ambition, but it never gets fleshed out enough to get there. It lands as a less effective rendition of Judd Apatow's Trainwreck.
The TV movie David Copperfield has a fresh-faced Dancy acting alongside big-name actors like Sally Fields and Seinfeld's Michael Richards. This Charles Dickens adaptation highlights the merciless childhood of future renowned author David Copperfield (Dancy). Cloying but enjoyable, it is a pragmatically peppy variation on the classic tale that spotlights Dancy's talent from an early age.
Written by Mindy Kaling, Late Night follows the only female talk show host (Emma Thompson) striving to change up the tedium of her show by hiring her first female writer. Hannibal's Hugh Dancy plays the love interest to Kaling's TV-writer character, playing him with a gleeful yet conniving attitude that greatly adds conflict to the script. Though clunky in its progressive themes, this comedy-drama quickly raises the bar for meta commentaries about modern-day writing rooms and Hollywood. With star performances from John Lithgow, Kaling, and Thompson, Late Night is a must-see.
Hysteria is the true story of how Mortimer Granville (Dancy) invents the first vibrator to help cure women of their "hysteria," as it was so-called in the 1900s. With an outlandish concept and quick pacing, Hysteria doesn't fail to keep its viewer engaged. However, its obscene subject matter simultaneously leads the movie through frequently drawn-out bouts of awkwardness. There is, at least, enough self-aware mischief in the story that will satisfy the average viewer.
Related: The Unseen Hannibal Legacy Character A Fourth Season Should Include
The war drama Shooting Dogs is based on real-life events taking place in a land-locked republic in Africa. Renowned actor John Hurt stars as a Catholic priest alongside Dancy's school teacher character, both of them stranded in Kigali during the Rwandan genocide of 1994. It is possible no other movie translates the impact of genocide more clearly than Shooting Dogs, with its barefaced brutality. Dancy and Hurt manage to effectively communicate the helplessness of the surrounding ethnic conflict. Its isolated focus inside the school actually separates it from the average war drama and makes the movie's true-to-life context even more chilling.
Adam is a compact film about the relationship between Beth (Rose Byrne) and her downstairs neighbor Adam (Dancy – whose work here arguably laid the groundwork for Hannibal lead Will Graham). Acclaimed for its authentic representation of Asperger's, Adam takes advantage of its respectably quaint and bittersweet plot to accentuate the singularities of being on the autism spectrum, not to ridicule them. Dancy and Byrne's chemistry is full of sparks and makes this already solid movie a classic.
Black Hawk Down is the true story about the U.S. soldiers, one of them portrayed by Dancy, who dropped into Mogadishu to capture notorious warlord lieutenants but get caught up in a deadly battle in Somalian territory. From director Ridley Scott, this war film does not shy away from gritty visuals and military pacing. The viewer is in the heavy shoes of a soldier trudging along towards survival. Hans Zimmer's score exemplifies what is truly at stake for these characters.
This upbeat 2009 rom-com is about the shopping addiction of Rebecca (Isla Fisher) and the debt she accumulates due to it. Hugh Dancy continues to prove himself as an incredibly endearing love interest who plays a good foil to Isla Fisher's zany persona. Confessions of a Shopaholic utilizes its humorous concept well but never quite balances it out with a proper sprinkling of drama. Despite that, this movie is a pleasantly tame experience.
Related: Every King Arthur Movie, Ranked Worst To Best
Antoine Fuqua's King Arthur is an action-adventure film where the titular King Arthur is a Roman officer commanding a group of knights. Though historically inaccurate in several glaring respects, the movie is bubbling with life and medieval valiance. Dancy plays a perfectly arrogant Galahad, and with the rest of the cast full of A-list actors, the dynamic the legendary knights share shines in this otherwise overcomplicated feature. It also offers a foreshadowing glimpse into Dancy's onscreen chemistry with Mads Mikkelsen in Hannibal.
Beautifully structured around a variety of Jane Austen novels, the author's classic themes bleed over into this uplifting rom-com where love is discovered, revitalized, and compromised. The Jane Austen Book Club weaves drama and comedy together seamlessly, which makes for an alleviating and grounded experience. Dancy's Grigg is dopily charming and the perfect foil to Maria Bello's quick-witted Jocelyn. Elevated by its subject matter and unique framing, this optimistic film leaves a gentle lasting impression.
The critically acclaimed drama Martha Marcy May Marlene revolves around the shocking consequences of cult integration on a young woman, Marvel's Elizabeth Olsen), who returns to a tense home after escaping from one. Dancy plays her aloof brother-in-law, Ted. Olsen's stellar performance effectively conveys the alienation felt in the aftermath of escaping a cult, the influence of which looms over the film darkly making for a rivetingly suspenseful experience.
Downton Abbey: A New Era is the second sequel film to the original hit series based around a family of British elites in the post-Edwardian era. While the first film is a grand and cinematic experience, this film further livens aspects that were previously lacking. Dancy plays a movie director, Jack Barber, and inspires a humorous and emotional experience for the residents at Downton who get caught up in his Hollywood process. With more tears and laughs this round, Downton Abbey: A New Era is a rollercoaster and love note to fans all in one package that encourages the concept of future sequels.
Related: Downton Abbey: Why Matthew Goode Isn't In A New Era
Ella Enchanted is a fairy tale film starring Anne Hathaway as the titular Ella and Hugh Dancy as her love interest and soon-to-be king, Prince Charmont. Ella sets out on a journey to erase her special "gift" forcing her to do what others tell her to do. An equally joyous and tense ride of misunderstandings and heartbreak, Ella Enchanted succeeds both at entertaining all ages and communicating its powerful message. Saturated visuals, clever utilization of pop songs, and the film's undeniable Disney energy and formula make it a nostalgic gem.
Savage Grace is based on the disturbingly real story about the relationship between socialite Barbara Daly Baekeland and her schizophrenic son, Tony. Julianne Moore and Eddie Redmayne portray the volatile dynamic to a superb degree and leave viewers' skin crawling. Hugh Dancy portrays Barbara's lover, Sam Green, who also sleeps with her son which fosters a disturbing triangle between them all. Tom Kalin's unique framing of sexuality weaving into themes of nature versus nurture truly elevates this movie from a harrowing drama into an elegant retelling of a tragedy.
Next: Hannibal: What Hugh Dancy Has Done Since Playing Will Graham
Zoe Jordan is a young freelance Movie/TV Features Writer for Screen Rant. She has become well-versed in Film and Television from the various cinema study classes she attended at SUNY Purchase in NY. She has key knowledge in film subjects and genres such as Italian Neo-Realism, Film Noir, and the history of horror. Miss Jordan has experience writing for theater and won a semi-finalist placement for short horror screenplay in the New York City Horror Film Festival in 2021. Based out of Florida, Zoe has grown a veritable interest in publishing her writing, honing her style, and working to gain notice in the film industry. Her goal is to become a successful screenwriter, and preferably, write original horror shorts and feature length films.